The Secret Life of Machines
Shares rank 5 of 11 documentary series by recommenders
People recommend this TV series for its quirky, illustrated demonstrations of how everyday machines work, with a relaxed pace that suits children. No critical quotes were found.
People recommend this TV series for its quirky, illustrated demonstrations of how everyday machines work, with a relaxed pace that suits children. No critical quotes were found.
8 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fun demos of how machines work
“has an episode demonstrating how sewing machines work, in a delightfully quirky way”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “The "mechanical miracle" that ruined Mark Twain's life” “has a fun demo of how the speakers in old telephones produce sound”
Comment from 1 Sep 2026 in “RotaryCell: Making an unmodified rotary phone work over LTE with an ESP32-S3” Quirky, relaxed, kid-friendly explanations
“has an episode demonstrating how sewing machines work, in a delightfully quirky way”
Comment from 11 Aug 2026 in “The "mechanical miracle" that ruined Mark Twain's life” “Nice relaxed pace and great for kids.”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “Novelty Automation: A collection of satirical home-made arcade machines” Long-lasting inspiration and childhood favourite
“these have been a great inspiration for me for many years”
Comment from 7 Jun 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits with lcamtuf / Michał Zalewski (Audio Interview)” “the most glorious show of my childhood”
Comment from 7 Jun 2026 in “The Secret Life of Circuits with lcamtuf / Michał Zalewski (Audio Interview)”
Other documentary series people recommend
The four most recommended other documentary series, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Connections by James Burke | 33 | 1 | 97% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Triumph of the Nerds | 31 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | Approved |
| All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace by Adam Curtis | 10 | 1 | 91% | 7 | — | Approved |
| The Century of Self by Adam Curtis | 10 | 1 | 91% | 5 | — | Approved |
| The Secret Life of MachinesThis page | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 9 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“has a fun demo of how the speakers in old telephones produce sound”
“has an episode demonstrating how sewing machines work, in a delightfully quirky way”
“these have been a great inspiration for me for many years”
“the most glorious show of my childhood”
“Tim Hunkins is a treasure”
“The illustrations on those shows are great.”
“Nice relaxed pace and great for kids.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.